"Doom 64" is a video game developed by Midway in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 console. It has since been updated and re-released in 2020 by NightDive Studios. That's really the version I am going to be talking about. Although I have thoroughly played this game, I have not played it very recently. Most of this review is being taken from memory.
For a game made right after the release of Doom II, it is shocking to find a game that plays so similarly that was not even made by Id. Obviously Midway was trying to go with a formula that worked. "Doom 64" plays like classic Doom flawlessly and is fun for exactly the same reason. Kind of crazy though when you consider that FPS games on the N64 at the time were a lot more advanced, allowing you to jump, look up and down, and other quality of life improvements. These things actually did negatively affect "Doom 64" at the time, and people sort of ignored it. Sad, but true.
But Midway were still geniuses in my opinion. They may have suffered a great loss from that version of the game, but the future would tell a different tale. We now look back on "Doom 64" and realize just how good we had it and also how selfish we were, clinging to all the bells and whistles of the modern FPS generation. "Doom 64" was just as good as the previous Doom games, and maybe that's all it needed to be. It was Midway's love letter to a game that was still going strong on PC, and by today, we finally appreciate that. Better late than never.
"Doom 64" takes place canonically after the events of "Final Doom." Here is a copy and paste of the story:
A planetary policy is established to quarantine the U.A.C. research installations with apocalyptic levels of radiation. For years, the installations stood motionless and abandoned, until a long-forgotten satellite monitoring one of the installations, barely functioning due to years of being subjected to high levels of radiation, sends a message back to Earth.
The message indicates that a single entity, with vast rejuvenation powers and masked by the extreme radiation levels, escaped detection in its crippled state. This entity systematically altered decaying dead carnage back into corrupted living tissue, resurrecting the demons.
As the only experienced survivor of the Doom episodes, the Marine is sent in alone to exterminate them. Later, he realizes the demons had planned for this, after he unknowingly allowed himself to be lured back into Hell. The demons are unable to defeat him, and with the Unmaker, he eventually battles and kills the Mother Demon. The game ends with the Marine, no longer capable of having a normal life following his encounters with Hell's forces, deciding to remain in Hell forever to ensure no demon ever rises again.
Despite the gameplay being the same, there are major differences in other areas that need to be addressed. Most of the demons are back, but they have been redesigned to be decidedly scarier to look at. The Revenants and the Arch-viles were omitted sadly, however there was a final boss included.
The music in this game is dark and terrifying. It's also extremely good. Like... go listen to the music from this game on YouTube or something. It is some of the most beautifully dark ambient pieces I have ever heard. It fits the look of the game too. "Doom 64" has a very dark and gloomy atmosphere to it. In some ways, this game represents what "Doom 3" probably should have been, because it somehow comes across as dark and terrifying while still replicating the fast action gameplay of the original. Nice job!
Did you think the BFG9000 was the top dog of Doom weapons? Not in "Doom 64!" While the BFG9000 is in the game (and still badass), there is a new addition that, if used properly, is a far superior killing device: The Unmaker. I love that name. I love that name almost as much as the BFG9000. It rocks.
The Unmaker is a laser weapon that, when you first get it, isn't actually all that powerful, but you can upgrade it three times during the campaign. By the time you completely upgrade it, it absolutely shreds everything, including the final boss, with little to no issues. It is the most overpowered weapon I have ever used in any video game ever. My god.
I really should not like a weapon that is this unbalanced, but there are some aspects to it that make it okay. For one, the act of upgrading it is actually very difficult. You have to find three items called "demon keys" that are only located on secret levels. Also, there is no information in the game itself that tells you what these keys even do, so you might not even know that the Unmaker is even being upgraded. The demon keys themselves are actually used to keep extra enemies from spawning in the final boss fight... but are also upgrading your Unmaker. It's so confusing that I wouldn't be surprised if someone playing the game back then even knew what to do with all these things.
That said, the fact that you need all three keys to get the Unmaker to fully upgrade means that it won't be at full power until very much near the end of the entire game. This is the balance. Unless you use cheats, you won't actually see the full power of this gun until late, and you will be forced to rely on guns of lesser power (like the BFG9000) until that point arrives. Clever.
(I'm so sorry for gushing about the Unmaker so much. It only appears in two Doom games to this date, so it is just a rare and interesting find.)
Make no mistake, "Doom 64" actually is a fantastic game, and if you like classic Doom then you can't do much better. I recommend it. Just make sure you get the NightDive Studios remaster. It even comes with a new episode!
This blog was written on April 23, 2025.
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